No, you misunderstand. Nine does not make a production run. The first airframe didn't even have engines, only ballast, and could only glide. The last three airframes also never had engines, which would make them rather unsuitable for use in combat. They used three different engines for the other five airframes, all of which had problems. I'll repeat: Sounds like a research plane to me!
So far I can find all of these references:
From Wikipedia
Heinkel He 280 The Heinkel He 280 was the first jet-powered fighter aircraft built in the world |
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Which is bunk, the He 178 was!
Also from Wikipedia
Me 262 The first jet fighter was the Messerschmitt Me 262, piloted by Fritz Wendel. |
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and from the
History Learning Site on Jet Engines However, the Gloster Meteor was not the first jet fighter. This claim goes to the Heinkel He 178 which first flew on August 24th 1939 |
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And from Answers.com
List of Jet Aircraft of WWIIAxis
German
German operational jet aircraft
* Messerschmitt Me 262 – the first operational jet powered aircraft. * Heinkel He 162 – second jet engined fighter aircraft to be fielded by the Luftwaffe * Arado Ar 234 – The world's first operational jet powered bomber. * V1 Flying Bomb – was the first modern guided missile used in wartime and the first cruise missile.
German experimental and test jet aircraft
* Heinkel He 178 – was the world's first aircraft to fly under turbojet power, and the first practical jet plane. * Heinkel He 280 – first jet-powered fighter aircraft built in the world. |
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Which clearly lists the He 280 as experimental.
My argument is that the first production run, non-prototype, operational, flew in combat, built as multiple variant jet-fighter is the Me 262.